Pop Inn

There will be more than drinks, sports and relaxation going on this Saturday, March 6, at the Churchward Pub — formerly the Pop Inn — on Park Street.

From 9 p.m. until closing, the bar will ask patrons for $5 that will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And a DJ will be there playing music for those who want to dance or listen — and to encourage lots of Alamedans to drop in and contribute.

Bar owner Joe Churchward says that his mom Diane was asked by some East Bay resident to host the fund-raiser, and that’s how it got organized.

Try to turn out for the cause if you can.

The Churchward Pub has been very supportive of local causes, like Dance for a Cure, a breast-cancer fund-raiser event held last year.

The bar is located at 1515 Park Street, near Lincoln Avenue.

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Note: On March 8, event organizer Teresa Fimby-Christensen, an East Bay chiropractor, said that $1,300 was raised. Congratulations to Teresa and the Churchwards for staging such a successful event.

Dance for a Cure, the breast cancer benefit set for 5 p.m.-midnight on Saturday, November 14, at Eagles Hall in Alameda drew a fun crowd Thursday night to the Churchward Pub on Park Street for its pre-event party.

The venue, which used to house the Pop Inn bar, came alive with DJs — several of whom will play Saturday night at the benefit, like Alex Mejia (see lower photo).

Stunna Vodka donated several bottles of its ultra-premium liqueur for Thursday and Saturday night.

“The organizers of Dance for a Cure are really onto something good,” said Tinnikie Bryant, a Stunna Vodka distributor from Fairfield. “We are glad to be a part of it!”

Bryant and distributor J. B. Burrell came to Alameda Thursday to introduce Islanders to the liquer and to support the cause. (See top photo holding a bottle of the drink.)

“It’s so nice of them to do this,” said Millie Luz, one of the Dance for a Cure organizers (shown above, in the top photo on the left).

Also at the event was Silvano Hernandez of La Pinata, who has been very supportive of the upcoming Dance for a Cure event. “They have worked so hard to bring this together,” he said.

Well. thanks to the Churchward family and DJ Alex Mejia, the place was hopping last night on Park Street.

There were regulars and new faces.

And as one patron said, “It’s amazing what a coat of paint and some crown molding will do to a place.”

DJ Mejia, an Alameda native now living in Los Angeles, is one of many Alamedans supporting Dance for a Cure, set for November 14 at Eagles Hall. (The event’s online fundraising auction is already doing lots of business.)

Meanwhile, organizer Millie Luz says that Alameda merchants are coming through on a daily basis with new donations and support for the event, which aims to raise funds to benefit breast cancer research. And T-shirt sales for the event are also going well.

The venerable watering hole on Park Street, the Pop Inn, has closed for renovations. A construction worker said the doors won’t open again until at least September. This adds credence to a tip from someone at a nearby business that the owners want to update the bar’s image. For a look at pictures of the Pop Inn go here.